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Economic Impact of Infrastructure Investment

Jeffrey M. Stupak

Analyst in Macroeconomic Policy

January 24, 2018

Congressional Research Service

7-5700

www.crs.gov

R44896



Summary Infrastructure investment has received renewed interest as of late, with both President Trump and

some Members of Congress discussing the benefits of such spending. Infrastructure can be

defined in a number of ways depending on the policy discussion; in general, however, the term

refers to longer-lived, capital-intensive systems and facilities, such as roads, bridges, and water

treatment facilities.

Over the past several decades, government investment in infrastructure as a percentage of gross

domestic product (GDP) has declined. Annual infrastructure investment by federal, state, and

local governments peaked in the late 1930s, at about 4.2% of GDP, and since has fallen to about

1.5% of GDP in 2016. State and local governments consistently spend more on infrastructure

directly than the federal government. In 2016, direct federal spending on nondefense

infrastructure was less than 0.1% of GDP, whereas state and local spending was about 1.4% of

GDP. However, the federal government transfers some funds each year to state and local

governments for capital projects, which includes infrastructure projects, equaling about 0.4% of

GDP in 2016. The United States also lags many other developed countries with respect to annual

infrastructure spending. Spending on infrastructure, as a percentage of GDP, is higher in all G7

countries, except for Italy and Germany, than in the United States.

Infrastructure is understood to be a critical factor in the health and wealth of a country, enabling

private businesses and individuals to produce goods and services more efficiently. With respect to

overall economic output, increased infrastructure spending by the government is generally

expected to result in higher economic output in the short term by stimulating demand and in the

long term by increasing overall productivity. The short-term impact on economic output largely

depends on the type of financing (whether deficit financed or deficit neutral) and the state of the

economy (whether in a recession or expansion). The long-term impact on economic output is also

affected by the method of financing, due to the potential for “crowding out” of private investment

when investments are deficit financed. The type of infrastructure is also expected to affect the

impact on economic output. Investments in core infrastructure, defined as roads, railways,

airports, and utilities, are expected to produce larger gains in economic output than investments in

some broader types of infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools, and other public buildings.

Changes in economic output are expected to have subsequent effects on employment; as such,

infrastructure investments are likely to impact employment as well. Recent research suggests

modest reductions in the unemployment rate in response to increased infrastructure investment.

Again, it is expected that the method of financing and state of the economy will alter these

impacts. Recent research has suggested that deficit-neutral investments are less likely to affect

employment, whereas deficit-financed investments are expected to reduce unemployment in the

short term. Additionally, recent economic research suggests that during an economic expansion,

with a relatively strong labor market, infrastructure investments are unlikely to have any

sustained impact on the unemployment rate. However, during a recession, the same investment is

likely to reduce the unemployment rate to some degree, research suggests.



Contents

What Is Infrastructure? .................................................................................................................... 1

Infrastructure Investment Trends ..................................................................................................... 1

Infrastructure Investment in the United States .......................................................................... 2 International Comparisons ........................................................................................................ 8

The Economy and Infrastructure Investment .................................................................................. 8

Effects on Economic Output ..................................................................................................... 9 Financing ............................................................................................................................ 9 Business Cycle Timing ..................................................................................................... 12 Type of Infrastructure ....................................................................................................... 13

Employment Effects ................................................................................................................ 13 Financing .......................................................................................................................... 14 Business Cycle Timing ..................................................................................................... 15

Concluding Thoughts .................................................................................................................... 15

Figures

Figure 1. Annual Government Nondefense Investment in Public Capital, 1929-2016 ................... 3

Figure 2. Annual Federal Nondefense Investment, 1929-2016 ....................................................... 4

Figure 3. Federal Nondefense Investment by Budget Function, 2012 ............................................ 5

Figure 4. Annual State and Local Investment, 1947-2016 .............................................................. 6

Figure 5. Cumulative Stock of Nondefense Federal Capital, 1929-2016 ........................................ 7

Figure 6. Cumulative Stock of State and Local Capital, 1929-2016 ............................................... 7

Figure 7. Transportation Infrastructure Investment in G7 Countries, 2014 .................................... 8

Contacts

Author Contact Information .......................................................................................................... 16


Congressional Research Service 1

nfrastructure investment has received renewed interest as of late, with both President Trump

and some Members of Congress discussing the benefits of such spending. The condition and

performance of infrastructure is thought to affect the economic well-being of countries in a

number of ways. This report provides an overview of the trends surrounding infrastructure

investment in the United States and examines the potential impact of additional infrastructure

investments on economic output and employment.

What Is Infrastructure?1 Although infrastructure spending has garnered increased attention recently, there is no generally

agreed-upon definition of infrastructure. In general, the term refers to longer-lived, capital-

intensive systems and facilities. Some restrict the definition to include systems and facilities that

have traditionally been provided by the public sector, such as highways and water treatment

facilities. However, others include predominantly privately owned systems and facilities, such as

those involved in electricity production and distribution. The definition of infrastructure can be

extended even further to include research and development expenditures, as they add to the stock

of technology and information available for use by private individuals.

Infrastructure is beneficial for both businesses and households and for the economy broadly. For

businesses, infrastructure can help to lower fixed costs of production, especially transportation

costs, which are often a central determinant of where businesses are located.2 For households, a

wide variety of final goods and services are provided through infrastructure services, such as

water, energy, and telecommunications.3 Infrastructure benefits the economy overall, as it allows

more goods and services to be produced with the same level of inputs, fostering long-term

economic growth.

Federal, state, and local governments share the cost of infrastructure investments, with the

majority of direct spending coming from state and local governments. The federal government

contributes to infrastructure investments in the form of direct spending, grants to state and local

governments, loan guarantees, and preferential tax treatment.

Infrastructure Investment Trends Due to the ambiguous definition of infrastructure, tracking government spending on infrastructure

investments can often be difficult. One of the more comprehensive sources of data on government

investment in infrastructure is the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), which tracks government

spending and investment in various areas.4 Government spending is divided into consumption

expenditures and investments.5 Consumption expenditures consist of spending by the government

1 This section has been adapted from CRS In Focus IF10592, Infrastructure Investment and the Federal Government,

by William J. Mallett. 2 Ward Romp and Jakob de Haan, “Public Capital and Economic Growth: A Critical Survey,” Perspektiven der

Wirtschaftspolitik, vol. 8, no. 51 (April 2007), pp. 6-52. 3 Stephane Straub, “Infrastructure and Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Macro-Level Literature,” Journal of

Developmental Studies, vol. 47, no. 5 (May 2011), pp. 683-708. 4 Data on infrastructure investment at the federal level are also available from the Historical Tables produced by the

Office of Management and Budget; however, these sources do not include data on state and local infrastructure

spending. 5 Because BEA measures the output of goods and services, it does not include government transfers or subsidies in the

standard measure of government spending, unlike the federal budget definition of spending.

I



to produce and provide goods and services to the public, such as paying Census workers to survey

households. By contrast, investment spending consists of government spending on fixed assets, or

capital, used to benefit the public for more than one year, such as roads, bridges, computers, and

government buildings. Investment is then further divided into three categories: (1) structures,

which include many of the classic examples of infrastructure (water systems, highways, bridges,

etc.); (2) equipment (computers, military hardware, etc.); and (3) intellectual property (software,

research and development, etc.). This report largely focuses on structures, as this most closely

aligns with the types of infrastructure cited by policymakers.

Investment is generally recorded in two alternative ways, which can present different perspectives

on overall investment. First, BEA reports the annual flow of funds spent by the government on

investment projects. However, because the results of these investments tend to produce value for

many years at a time, BEA also tracks the total value of all investments that are still productive,

which is often referred to as the “total stock of investments.” BEA tracks the total value of all

government investments by estimating the stock of productive capital and increasing the capital

stock when new funds are invested and decreasing the capital stock over time as projects

deteriorate, or depreciate. The overall capital stock will either increase or decrease over time

depending on the size of the flow of investment funds relative to the depreciation of the capital

stock. If the flow of funds each year is larger than the loss of value due to depreciation, then the

stock of capital will grow over time; if the flow of new funds is less than the loss of value due to

depreciation, then the stock of capital will decrease over time.

The following sections will examine the annual flow of U.S. government spending into public

investments, describe the overall stock of public capital over time, and then compare

infrastructure investment in the United States to that in other industrialized economies.

Infrastructure Investment in the United States

Nondefense gross government investment (federal, state, and local) in the United States has

largely been in decline since the 1960s, falling from above 4% of GDP to about 2.5% in 2016, as

shown in Figure 1. Overall, nondefense gross investment, as a percentage of GDP, was even

higher for a number of years in the 1930s, before decreasing significantly during and shortly after

the end of World War II, as gross government investment shifted to defense-related spending and

GDP grew quickly. Nondefense gross investment in the 1960s then rose to similar levels seen

before World War II, and then began slowly declining over time.

It is common to limit analysis of infrastructure investments to nondefense investments; national

defense investments generally do not fit the definition of infrastructure because they are not

available to the public to assist in the production of goods and services. In 2016, about 54% of

federal investment was directed to national defense purposes, whereas about 46% was directed to

nondefense purposes.6

6 CRS calculations based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.



Figure 1. Annual Government Nondefense Investment in Public Capital, 1929-2016

(as a share of GDP)

Source: CRS calculations based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Note: Government investment includes federal, state, and local spending.

A similar pattern emerges for general government (federal, state, and local) nondefense

investment in structures over this period. Government investment in structures peaked in the

1930s at about 4.2% of GDP, before dipping dramatically during the World War II period, as

shown in Figure 1. General government investment in structures then rebounded to about 2.9%

of GDP by the 1960s, and has since generally been in decline, falling to about 1.5% of GDP in

2016.

Direct federal investment, which refers to spending that occurs at the federal level rather than

transfers to state and local governments, peaked in the 1930s as a percentage of GDP, and again

in the 1960s before beginning to gradually decline over the next several decades, falling from

about 1.4% of GDP in 1966 to about 0.7% of GDP in 2016, as shown in Figure 2.7 Direct federal

investment in structures has been relatively flat recently, hovering around 0.1% of GDP since

2000. Direct federal investment in structures also peaked in the 1930s, reaching above 1.0% of

GDP briefly, then again to a lesser extent in the late 1940s and 1960s, at around 0.4% of GDP.

Whereas direct investment by the federal government has largely been in decline over the

previous several decades, transfers from the federal government to state and local government for

capital investments have exceeded direct federal spending since the mid-1950s. As shown in

Figure 2, transfers to state and local governments for capital investments began in the 1930s and

increased through the 1960s to about 0.6% of GDP. These transfers then began to decline through

the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, before rising rapidly in the 2000s, with much of the increase in 2009

attributable to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). Transfers, as a

percentage of GDP, have now declined to levels similar to in the 1980s and 1990s, around 0.4%

of GDP.

7 Direct federal investments are limited to funds spent directly by the federal government on investment projects; funds

that are transferred to state and local governments for investment by the federal government are recorded as state and

local investment since they are the entity which directly spends the funds on investment projects.

http://www.congress.gov/cgi-lis/bdquery/R?d111:FLD002:@1(111+5)



Figure 2. Annual Federal Nondefense Investment, 1929-2016

(as a share of GDP)


Note: Gross investment includes direct spending at the federal level, and spending on structures is a subset of

gross investment. Transfers to state and local governments are not included as part of gross investment in the

BEA data. Instead, they are recorded as investments made by state and local governments when the funds are

actually spent on investment projects.

According to data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), as of 2012, the federal

government spent about $126 billion on nondefense investments through direct spending and

transfers to state and local governments. The largest share of this money, by budget function, was

invested in transportation, accounting for about $63 billion, as shown in Figure 3. The next

largest source of investment was energy, which accounted for about $14 billion in 2012.

Depending on the budget function, the mix of investments through direct federal spending and

grants to state and local governments varies considerably. Within transportation about 90% of

federal investments are made through grants to state and local governments, whereas within

energy almost 70% of federal investments are made through direct federal spending.



Figure 3. Federal Nondefense Investment by Budget Function, 2012

(in billions of dollars)

Source: Congressional Budget Office, Federal Investment, Exhibit 11, December 18, 2013.

Notes: Other includes the following budget functions: Commerce and Housing Credit; General Science, Space,

and Technology; and International Affairs.

State and local investment has followed a similar pattern over time as investment at the federal

level. State and local investment in structures peaked in 1939 at 3.3% of GDP, before shrinking

dramatically during and shortly after World War II, then increasing back to about 2.7% of GDP in

the late 1960s, as shown in Figure 4. Following the 1960s, investment in structures declined

through the 1970s to about 1.5% of GDP, and then increased between 1994 and 2009 to a level of

about 2.0% of GDP. Since the 2009 peak, state and local investment in structures has again

declined back to about 1.4% of GDP. Although this level of state and local investment is

relatively low by historical standards, the federal government transferred about 0.4% of GDP to

state and local governments in 2016 in the form of grants for capital investments (see Figure 2).

State and local governments directly invest significantly more in general, and into structures, than

the federal government (as seen by comparing Figure 2 and Figure 4); however, some of the

direct investments made by state and local governments are the result of transfers from the federal

government. As shown in Figure 4, in 2016, state and local governments directly invested funds

equivalent to about 1.8% of GDP, but the federal government also transferred funds equivalent to

0.4% of GDP to state and local governments for capital investments in that year. If all of the

funds transferred from the federal government were invested into structures, it would still mean

state and local governments spent about 1.1% of GDP on structure investments, whereas the

federal government contributed about 0.5% of GDP to investment in structures, including direct

investments and transfers to state and local governments.



Figure 4. Annual State and Local Investment, 1947-2016

(as a share of GDP)


Notes: Gross investment includes direct spending at the state and local level, and spending on structures is a

subset of gross investment. Transfers to state and local government are recorded in the data when transferred

to state and local governments rather than when spent on investment projects, therefore there may be a delay in

when transfers to state and local governments are recorded as gross investment at the state and local level.

Overall, the stock of public capital at the federal, state, and local level—that is, the total value of

all productive investments—as a percentage of GDP trended upward during the post-World War

II period. However, the stocks of structures installed by different levels of government have

diverged over recent decades. During the post-World War II period, the stock of nondefense

federal structures has been in decline, falling from around 7% of GDP in the late 1940s to about

4% of GDP in 2016, as shown in Figure 5. In contrast, the stock of structures installed at the state

and local levels has been trending upward during the post-World War II period, increasing from

about 36% of GDP in the late 1940s to about 54% of GDP in 2016, as shown in Figure 6. This

shift in capital stock from the federal government to state and local governments is partially

understood to be because of the federal government’s shift away from direct investments and

toward grants to state and local governments in recent decades.



Figure 5. Cumulative Stock of Nondefense Federal Capital, 1929-2016

(as a share of GDP)


Figure 6. Cumulative Stock of State and Local Capital, 1929-2016

(as a share of GDP)




International Comparisons

Data reflecting overall infrastructure investment across countries are relatively sparse; however,

the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tracks government

investment specifically in transportation infrastructure. The United States lags behind many other

advanced economies with respect to transportation infrastructure investment as a percentage of

GDP. According to OECD data, which include spending on roads, rails, inland waterways,

maritime ports, and airports, the United States spends less on transportation infrastructure as a

percentage of GDP than most OECD countries.8 As shown in Figure 7, in 2014, the United States

lagged all other G7 countries, except Italy and Germany, spending about 0.6% of GDP on

transportation infrastructure, compared with a G7 average of about 0.8%. Although many OECD

countries have higher infrastructure investment rates than the United States, the United States

may have a higher stock of infrastructure than some of these other countries due to differing rates

of past investment. However, the OECD does not produce data on the stock of infrastructure

across countries.

Figure 7. Transportation Infrastructure Investment in G7 Countries, 2014

(as a share of GDP)

Source: OECD, Infrastructure Investment, https://data.oecd.org/transport/infrastructure-investment.htm.

Notes: Infrastructure is defined as road, rail, inland waterways, maritime ports, and airports. Includes spending

by all levels of government.

The Economy and Infrastructure Investment Infrastructure is generally understood to be a critical factor in the economic well-being of a

country, enabling private businesses and individuals to produce goods and services in a more

efficient manner, although there is debate about the optimal amount of infrastructure investment.

The remainder of this report focuses on the ways in which additional infrastructure investments

8 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Infrastructure Investment,” available at

https://data.oecd.org/transport/infrastructure-investment.htm.



affect economic output and employment. As the following sections explain, all infrastructure

investments are not the same. The impact of these investments is likely to differ with respect to a

few key considerations, including the way in which the investments are financed, the timing of

the investments with respect to the business cycle, and the type of infrastructure being created.

The following sections touch on the potential impact of additional infrastructure investment and

examine how these factors are likely to amplify or subdue its economic impact.

Effects on Economic Output

Over the long term, economists expect a larger stock of public capital to result in higher levels of

economic output. An increase in the public capital stock, such as new or improved roads, raises

output directly in the near term (government spending is included in GDP) and also allows

individuals and businesses to be more productive in the long term, freeing up time and resources

that can be put toward generating additional economic output or used to enjoy more leisure time.

For example, a new bridge may greatly shorten commute times and distances for truck drivers,

allowing them to deliver goods to consumers more quickly and at lower cost to themselves, and

allowing businesses to produce and deliver more goods to consumers. These changes result in

productivity growth for the economy as a whole, which is the most important determinant of

long-term economic growth.

Ample research has attempted to estimate the impact of public infrastructure investments on

economic output. A recent review of the literature utilized meta-regression analysis to take

advantage of the nearly 30 years of international research on the subject.9 The authors found that

on average for the United States, a 1% increase in the public capital stock (about $138 billion in

2016) would result in a higher level of private-sector economic output by 0.083% in the short

term (about $12.8 billion), compared with a baseline.10

The same 1% increase would increase the

long-term level of private-sector economic output by 0.122% (about $18.7 billion in 2016),

compared to a baseline.11

By contrast, CBO currently estimates that a 1% increase in public

capital would increase the long-term level of private-sector output by 0.06% (about $9.2 billion in

2016).12

It is important to underscore that the estimated impact is exclusively for private-sector

economic output, rather than total economic output, as the impact would likely be larger,

particularly in the short term, if total economic output were being evaluated.

However, these are only average estimates, and the economic impact depends on how the

investment is financed, broader economic conditions when the investment is made, and the type

of infrastructure invested in.

Financing

There are numerous ways to finance additional government investments in infrastructure. In

general, the literature focuses on instances where either the national or regional governments

spend on infrastructure directly, as this is the more common approach historically. However, there

are other options, such as offering tax incentives, providing loan guarantees, and creating private-

9 Meta-regression analysis is a quantitative method for conducting literature reviews. 10 Pedro Bom and Jenny Ligthart, “What Have We Learned From Three Decades of Research on the Productivity of

Public Capital?” Journal of Economic Surveys, vol. 28, no. 5 (December 2015), pp. 902-905. 11 Ibid. 12 U.S. Congressional Budget Office, The Macroeconomic and Budgetary Effects of Federal Investment, June 2016, pp.

24-25.



public partnerships. Given the current uncertainty regarding alternative financing mechanisms

that may be included in future legislation, this report focuses on the economic impact of spending

undertaken directly by the government.13

Government investment is financed in two distinct ways: either through deficit financing or

deficit-neutral financing. The short-term impact of infrastructure investment can differ

significantly depending on the type of financing used. Investments are considered deficit financed

if there is no decrease in government spending or increase in tax revenue to offset the new

spending. Investments are considered deficit neutral if there is a decrease in government spending

or an increase in tax revenue to offset the new spending.

The total economic impact of deficit financing for infrastructure investments is unclear, as it

creates two opposing forces with respect to economic output. Additional public investments are

likely to boost (or “stimulate”) economic output in the short term both directly and indirectly. As

the government spends additional funds on infrastructure projects, this directly increases

economic output as the government purchases goods and services from contractors.14

Moreover,

deficit-financed investments may indirectly increase economic output even further via the

multiplier effect.15

The multiplier effect suggests that $1 of government spending may increase

economic output by more than $1, particularly during economic downturns. For example, as the

government hires contractors to complete new infrastructure projects, the employees and

suppliers utilized by the contractors now have additional money as well, and will likely spend at

least some of it on goods and services provided by other businesses. The successive flow of

funds, first from the government to contractors, then to employees and suppliers, may result in a

larger GDP increase than the original spending by the government. However, government

spending affects aggregate demand only once the funds are actually distributed. For many

infrastructure projects it may take an extended period of time for funds to actually be spent, as

projects must first be selected, competing bids reviewed, etc. Thus, the short-term impact of

infrastructure investment may take longer to materialize than the impacts of other types of

government spending that can be implemented faster, such as cash transfers to individuals.

Although deficit-financed investments may increase short-term economic output, the long-term

impact may be reduced due to the “crowding out” of private investment. As the government

borrows funds for infrastructure investments, it generally results in higher interest rates. As a

result of the increased interest rates, private investment and interest-sensitive consumer spending

is expected to decrease. The CBO estimates that a $1 increase in the federal deficit decreases

private investment by about 33 cents.16

The replacement of private investment with public

investment is often of concern to economists because, on average, private investment is thought

to be more productive than public investment.17

So although deficit-financed investments are

more likely to produce short-term gains in economic output, they may impose long-term costs to

economic output as they replace some amount of private investment.

13 For a discussion of some of the other infrastructure financing mechanisms, refer to CRS Report R43308,

Infrastructure Finance and Debt to Support Surface Transportation Investment, by William J. Mallett and Grant A.

Driessen. 14 Economic output, as measured by GDP, necessarily increases as the government spends money because government

expenditures are included as a component of GDP. 15 Nicoletta Batini et al., Fiscal Multipliers: Size, Determinants, and Use in Macroeconomic Projections, International

Monetary Fund, September 2014, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/tnm/2014/tnm1404.pdf. 16 U.S. Congressional Budget Office, The Macroeconomic and Budgetary Effects of Federal Investment, June 2016, pp.

9. 17 Ibid., p. 2.



Alternatively, deficit-neutral infrastructure investments are unlikely to affect economic output in

the short term. When investments are deficit neutral, they have no immediate impact on aggregate

demand because government spending remains level. Moreover, because the government is not

borrowing additional money, interest rates are unlikely to change in the short term. However,

depending on what types of spending are cut or taxes are raised, offsets could have positive or

negative effects on long-term output that would need to be weighed against the long-term benefits

of additional infrastructure spending. Although deficit-neutral public investments are not

expected to have any significant impacts on short-term economic output, they are less likely to

result in crowding out of private investment. As such, additional deficit-neutral investments are

expected to have a larger positive impact on long-term economic output than deficit-financed

investments, all else equal.

In an attempt to account for how different financing mechanisms may affect public investment’s

impact on output, International Monetary Fund (IMF) researchers estimated these impacts

separately for deficit-financed and deficit-neutral investments. The authors found that an increase

in deficit-financed public investment of 1 percentage point of GDP tends to increase overall GDP

by 0.9% within the first year and by 2.9% after four years, but the authors found no significant

change in GDP when investments were deficit neutral.18

However, recent analysis by the CBO

suggested that, depending on the structure (a onetime expenditure versus a series of annual

expenditures) and size of deficit-financed federal investment spending, the long-term impact may

either increase or decrease the level of GDP compared with a baseline. CBO found that a deficit-

financed increase in public investment of $100 billion would increase GDP by about $20 billion

in the short term, and result in the level of GDP being about $1 billion higher after 10 years

compared with a baseline. When deficit neutral, the same investment would not increase GDP in

the short term, but would result in the level of GDP being about $4 billion higher after 10 years

compared with a baseline.19

Much of the difference between the results produced by the CBO and

IMF researchers is due to differing estimates in how public capital impacts productivity and the

degree to which public investment crowds out private investment. CBO assumes public capital is

less effective at increasing productivity and more likely to crowd out private investment than the

IMF researchers.

An additional possible downside of deficit-financed investments is the potential increase in the

debt-to-GDP ratio. Economists are generally concerned with the debt-to-GDP ratio rather than

absolute levels of debt, as a country’s GDP is indicative of its ability to pay off the debt. Elevated

debt-to-GDP ratios may impede economic growth if they lead to macroeconomic instability, such

as rising interest rates on government debt.20

The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio increased significantly

during and after the recent recession, rising from about 35% in 2006 to over 76% in 2016.21

Nevertheless, interest rates on this debt have remained at historic lows, suggesting investors are

confident in the United States’ ability to continue meeting its debt obligations. The already

elevated ratio of debt to GDP may give pause to some when considering deficit-financed

infrastructure investments. However, deficit-financed investments may not necessarily increase

18 Abdul Abiad, Davide Furceri, and Petia Topalova, The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment: Evidence from

Advanced Economies, IMF Working Paper, vol. WP/15/95, May 2015. 19 U.S. Congressional Budget Office, The Macroeconomic and Budgetary Effects of Federal Investment, June 2016. 20 Carmen Reinhart, Vincent Reinhart, and Kenneth Rogoff, Debt Overhangs: Past and Present, NBER Working Paper

Series, Working Paper 18015, April 2012. 21 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and U.S. Office of Management and Budget, “Federal Debt Held by the Public as

Percent of Gross Domestic Product,” available at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYGFGDQ188S.



the debt-to-GDP ratio; the increase in economic output may be greater than the increase in debt.22

Some research has suggested that deficit-financed investments have no impact on the debt-to-

GDP ratio and can even decrease it,23

whereas other research has suggested such investments will

likely increase the ratio.24

As discussed in the following section, the magnitude of the increase in

economic output will additionally depend in part on the business cycle.

Business Cycle Timing

The business cycle timing of additional public investments is also likely to alter the impact of

public investments on short-term economic output. Current economic theory suggests that in the

short term, if public investments are made during a recession, the impact on economic output will

be larger than if the same investments were made during an economic expansion.25

When the

economy is in recession, the short-term economic boost from additional public spending is

expected to be larger because various economic inputs are being underutilized and can be called

up for production relatively quickly. For example, during a recession large numbers of

unemployed workers are generally available, and factories are running below capacity, allowing

production to ramp up quickly when the government begins offering new contracts to companies.

Alternatively, when the economy is expanding healthily, the boost to short-term economic activity

may be smaller because there is less excess capacity in the economy. Additionally, if undertaken

at full employment, additional spending may result in higher rates of inflation, or the Federal

Reserve might raise rates to counter rising inflation, which would decrease the impact on short-

term output.

Recent empirical research has largely confirmed this assumption, suggesting significantly larger

output responses to public investment in times of recession versus expansion. A recent article

estimated the impact could be about 1.5 times larger during a recession than during an expansion,

suggesting a 1% increase in public investment would boost economic output by 3.4% during a

recession and about 2.3% during an expansion.26

A recent article published by the IMF suggested

an even smaller impact during an expansion. The authors found that during a recession, an

increase in investment spending of 1 percentage point of GDP would potentially increase

economic output by 1.5% in the first year and by 3% after four years, whereas there was no

significant change in short-term output when public investments were made during an

expansion.27

The U.S. economy has been in an expansion since June 2009, and although growth has been

slower than average, economic indicators suggest the economy is near full employment. Under

normal circumstances, the economy being at full employment would be an argument against

additional infrastructure spending, as it could potentially lead to higher inflation or require the

Federal Reserve to increase interest rates to offset the stimulative nature of the spending.

22 For more discussion of this topic, refer to CRS Report R44383, Deficits and Debt: Economic Effects and Other

Issues, by Grant A. Driessen. 23 International Monetary Fund, Legacies, Clouds, Uncertainties, October 2014, Chapter 3, http://www.imf.org/

external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/. 24 U.S. Congressional Budget Office, The Macroeconomic and Budgetary Effects of Federal Investment, June 2016. 25 Alan J. Auerbach and Yuriy Gorodnichenko, “Measuring the Output Responses to Fiscal Policy,” American

Economic Journal, vol. 4, no. 2 (May 2012), pp. 1-27. 26 Ibid. 27 Aseel Almansour, David Furceri, and Carlos M. Granados, et al., World Economic Outlook: Legacies, Clouds,

Uncertanties, International Monetary Fund, October 2014, pp. 75-114, at http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/

Issues/2016/12/31/Legacies-Clouds-Uncertainties.



However, a number of economists believe the U.S. economy is suffering from some type of

ailment that is preventing the economy from growing faster. If this is the case, expansionary fiscal

policy, such as increased infrastructure spending, could help to push the economy out of its

current slow-growth path.28

Type of Infrastructure

Infrastructure investment’s overall impact on economic output largely depends on how effective

the investments are in increasing productivity—in other words, how helpful they are in the

production of goods and services. Some types of infrastructure, such as roads, are more closely

associated with the production of goods and services, whereas others, such as schools or

government office buildings, have some societal benefit but do not have the same close

relationship to economic output. Researchers have thus attempted to distinguish between so-

called “core” infrastructure and other infrastructure. Core infrastructure includes roads, railways,

airports, and utilities. This definition excludes some broader types of infrastructure, such as

hospitals, schools, and other public buildings.

As part of the same large-scale review of research discussed earlier, the authors reviewed a subset

of articles that distinguished between core and all types of infrastructure.29

The authors found that

core infrastructure tended to have a larger impact on private-sector economic output than all types

of infrastructure taken together. With respect to all types of infrastructure, a 1% increase in the

public capital stock is expected to increase private-sector economic output by 0.083% in the short

term and 0.122% in the long term. When looking only at core infrastructure, the same 1%

investment is expected to increase private-sector economic output by 0.131% in the short term

and 0.170% in the long term.30

Employment Effects

Changes in economic output tend to occur alongside changes in employment; as the economy

produces more goods and services, it generally requires more people to produce those goods and

services. A long-standing economic rule of thumb, often referred to as Okun’s Law, suggests that

increased economic growth generally leads to increased employment, and vice versa.31

This

relationship is most obvious during economic downturns, when a decrease in economic growth

generally occurs alongside a decrease in employment and a rising unemployment rate. The same

is generally true during times of economic growth, with rising employment and a decreasing

unemployment rate. Assuming that increased public investment spurs additional economic output,

there will likely be some change in employment as well. In addition, faster productivity growth is

expected to reduce the long-term unemployment rate in the economy, allowing the economy to

sustainably operate at lower levels of unemployment without increasing the rate of inflation.32

28 Lawrence Summers, “U.S. Economic Prospects: Secular Stagnation, Hysteresis, and the Zero Lower Bound,”

Business Economics, vol. 49, no. 2 (2014). For a more thorough discussion of the current economic expansion in the

United States, refer to CRS Report R44543, Slow Growth in the Current U.S. Economic Expansion, by Mark P.

Keightley, Marc Labonte, and Jeffrey M. Stupak. 29 Pedro Bom and Jenny Ligthart, “What Have We Learned From Three Decades of Research on the Productivity of

Public Capital?,” Journal of Economic Surveys, vol. 28, no. 5 (December 2015), pp. 889-916. 30 Ibid. 31 Edward S. Knotek, “How Useful is Okun’s Law?” Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review, vol. 92,

no. 4 (Fourth Quarter 2007), pp. 73-103. 32 Laurence Ball and Gregory Mankiw, “The NAIRU in Theory and Practice,” Journal of Economic Perspective, vol.

(continued...)



Another way to look at the relationship between economic output and employment involves a

basic understanding of how economic output is accounted for. The most prominent measure of

economic output is GDP, which sums the cost of all goods and services produced during a

specific time period. An alternative way to measure total economic output is as the total income

received within all sectors of the economy in a given period. These two measures theoretically

will produce the same amount, as any money paid for goods and services is eventually paid to

other individuals in the form of salaries, wages, dividends, rental payments, etc. Therefore, any

increase in GDP is also an increase in aggregate incomes. These increased incomes may be paid

out in the form of new jobs, or increased pay for existing jobs; it is thus not clear how much an

increase in GDP may actually boost overall employment.

Current research surrounding the employment impact of additional public investment is difficult

to summarize, as researchers generally use different measures of employment, including overall

labor demand, employment levels, and the unemployment rate. However, estimates of the impact

of public investment on employment range from a positive impact to no impact. A recent article

by IMF researchers suggests that among OECD countries, an increase in public investment of 1

percentage point of GDP generally decreases the unemployment rate by 0.11% in the short term

and 0.35% in the medium term.33

Alternatively, researchers estimated the impact of increased

public capital on labor demand, finding that in the United States a 1% increase in public capital

would increase labor demand by 1.13% in the short term, 1.07% in the medium term, and 0.08%

in the long term.34

As defined by the authors, an increase in labor demand constitutes an increase

in wages, employment, or both; therefore, it is difficult to draw concrete examples of how public

capital may affect employment levels.

Financing

In the short term, the method of financing additional public investment is likely to alter its impact

on employment. If additional public spending is deficit neutral, economists estimate the impact

on overall demand is likely to be minimal in the short term, as discussed in the “Effects on

Economic Output” section. Therefore, they conclude that investment will likely not generate new

jobs, but rather shift jobs to construction and other areas connected to infrastructure projects.

However, economists estimate that a deficit-financed increase in public investment is expected to

affect short-term demand and therefore increase employment as demand for labor rises.

Researchers with the IMF looked at the impact of increased public investment on the

unemployment rate depending on the mode of financing, finding a significantly larger impact on

short-term unemployment when the spending was deficit financed rather than deficit neutral. The

researchers found that an increase in public investment of 1 percentage point of GDP would

potentially decrease the unemployment rate by nearly 2% over four years when deficit financed,

but found no impact on the unemployment rate when it was deficit neutral.35

(...continued)

16, no. 4 (Fall 2002), pp. 115-136. 33 Abdul Abiad, Davide Furceri, and Petia Topalova, The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment: Evidence from

Advanced Economies, IMF Working Paper, vol. WP/15/95, May 2015. 34 Panicos O. Demetriades and Theofanis P. Mamuneas, “Intertemporal Output and Employment Effects of Public

Infrastructure Capital: Evidence from 12 OECD Economies,” The Economic Journal, vol. 110, no. 465 (July 2000), pp.

687-712. 35 Abdul Abiad, Davide Furceri, and Petia Topalova, The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment: Evidence from

Advanced Economies, IMF Working Paper, vol. WP/15/95, May 2015.



The method of financing is also likely to alter the impact of public investments on long-term

employment outcomes due to differing impacts on productivity growth. Deficit-neutral

investments are likely to decrease the long-term unemployment rate to a larger degree than

deficit-financed investments, because they are unlikely to crowd out private investments,

resulting in faster productivity growth, all else equal. Deficit-financed investments would be

expected to reduce the long-term unemployment rate, but to a lesser degree, as some amount of

crowding out of private investment is likely to occur, resulting in a smaller increase in

productivity growth and therefore a smaller decrease in the long-term unemployment rate.

Estimates of the impact of public investment on the long-term unemployment rate would likely be

quite imprecise, as it is only estimated based on the movement of other economic processes,

rather than observed directly, and it shifts over time in response to changes in productivity growth

but also labor force composition, public policy and institutions, and the level of long-term

unemployment.36

Business Cycle Timing

The ability of public infrastructure investments to generate additional employment is likely to

differ based on whether the economy is in recession or expansion, with a larger boost to

employment occurring during a recession. In the midst of a recession, the economy is generally

operating below its potential, with numerous unemployed workers and businesses producing

fewer goods and services than is possible. In this scenario, increased infrastructure investment is

likely to have a larger impact on employment because there are so many idle workers available to

begin work immediately. Conversely, during an economic expansion, there are fewer unemployed

individuals struggling to find work. As such, additional infrastructure investments are less likely

to generate new jobs, and rather would shift jobs toward occupations related to infrastructure,

such as construction and architecture.

Researchers at the IMF estimated the impact of additional public investment on employment

depending on the state of the economy. The authors found that during an expansion, there was no

significant impact on employment. However, during a recession, an increase in public investment

of 1 percentage point of GDP decreased the unemployment rate by 0.5% after one year and

0.75% after four years.37

The U.S. unemployment rate as of May 2017 was 4.3%, which is below

most estimates of the long-term unemployment rate (i.e., full employment).38

However, some

economic indicators suggest there is still room for employment growth, as a number of prime age

adults dropped out of the labor force during the recession and may return as economic conditions

continue to improve.

Concluding Thoughts Public infrastructure is a valuable resource to both consumers and businesses alike, improving

their ability to produce and consume goods and services more efficiently. The ability for

businesses to produce goods and services more efficiently is a crucial determinant of economic

growth, and increased infrastructure investment—if well targeted and depending on the degree of

crowding out—likely contributes to increased productivity over time, leading to higher GDP over

36 For a more thorough discussion of the long-term unemployment rate, refer to CRS Report R44663, Unemployment

and Inflation: Implications for Policymaking, by Jeffrey M. Stupak. 37 Abdul Abiad, Davide Furceri, and Petia Topalova, The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment: Evidence from

Advanced Economies, IMF Working Paper, vol. WP/15/95, May 2015. 38 Bureau of Labor Statistics, at https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000.



the long term. In the near term, public infrastructure investments can also have a varying impact

on GDP by stimulating aggregate demand. The anticipated impact on near-term GDP will

generally depend on the financing mechanism, overall economic conditions, and the type of

infrastructure. The largest short-term gains in GDP would likely be achieved if the investments

were deficit financed, the funds were spent during a recession, and the investments focused on

core infrastructure (i.e., roads, bridges, and railways). But because of crowding out, long-term

gains (outside of a recession) would generally be greater if infrastructure investment were deficit

neutral.

In addition, public infrastructure investments may affect employment in the near and medium

term. As the government selects contractors to complete new infrastructure projects, contractors

hire additional workers, such as architects and construction workers. Economic research suggests

the largest impact on short- and medium-term employment would be achieved by deficit-financed

investments that take place during a recession.39

In the long term, infrastructure investment is less

likely to have a significant impact on employment outcomes.

Author Contact Information

Jeffrey M. Stupak

Analyst in Macroeconomic Policy

[email protected], 7-2344

39 Abdul Abiad, Davide Furceri, and Petia Topalova, The Macroeconomic Effects of Public Investment: Evidence from

Advanced Economies, IMF Working Paper, vol. WP/15/95, May 2015.

mailto:[email protected]

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